Space-based data centers face cooling issues, warns Voyager CEO

Investing.com -- Space-based data centers face significant technical hurdles despite growing industry interest, according to Voyager Technologies CEO Dylan Taylor.

Taylor told CNBC that while space data centers will eventually become reality, a two-year timeline would be "aggressive" as cooling remains a major obstacle for the developing technology.

"It's counter intuitive, but it's hard to actually cool things in space because there's no medium to transmit hot to cold," Taylor explained. "All heat dissipation has to happen via radiation, which means you need to have a radiator pointing away from the Sun."

The concept gained renewed attention when Tesla CEO Elon Musk cited space-based data centers as a one of the motivations for merging SpaceX and xAI in a deal valued at $1.25 trillion earlier this week.

Taylor noted that while SpaceX possesses the heavy-lift rockets necessary to transport components to orbit, the cooling solution challenge persists.

Voyager Technologies, which went public in June, is working on the Starlab project to replace the International Space Station (ISS) in partnership with Palantir, Airbus, and Mitsubishi. The company remains on track for its planned 2029 launch.

Taylor expressed confidence in Voyager's position to advance space-based computing, noting the company already has a cloud compute device on the ISS and possesses laser communication tools that could support future developments.

"We're big believers in the technology maturing and our ability to generate data in space and process data in space," he said.

Interest in the space sector has increased amid speculation about a potential SpaceX IPO this year and the Trump administration's focus on defense spending.

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